


Giving a Show

by LucyLegacies



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucyLegacies/pseuds/LucyLegacies
Summary: Hope and Lizzie had been competing since they were born. Now they're about to leave high school and they're must decide what it's really important: win the battle or the war.CHEESY :D
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 71
Kudos: 129





	1. Truce

**Author's Note:**

> This one is cute. I really hope you like it. I had this idea and I knew it would fit this Hope and this Lizzie. No sadness in this one. Just fluff and sweetness.

“And as always, Hope Mikaelson got an A.” Lizzie rolled her eyes at the smirking Hope Mikaelson. Lizzie had also gotten an A; Hope had no reason to smirk like that. “That’s it, class. You can go now. Mikaelson, Saltzman, I’d like to talk to you.” Mr. Williams announced after finishing the class. He looked at the girls smiling and then took two boxes from his table. “Well, girls. First of all, I’d like to say that I’m so proud of you. Earlier this week, I received the news that Harvard, for the first time ever, was going to choose two students from the same school to attend their Summer Program. I was surprised to say the least. Everyone in the Scholar Community was. Whom am I trying to fool? Everyone in the country was. When I got these two boxes earlier today, though, I wasn’t so surprised.” He said looking at Lizzie and then at Hope. “You two got accepted.” He said giving them the boxes. “Isn’t it amazing?”

 _This is totally not amazing_ , thought Lizzie. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Lizzie exclaimed.

“Why did they decide to choose two?” Said Hope glaring at Lizzie. Lizzie rolled her eyes at her.

“I have no idea but this is good. Good for me, your teacher. Good for the school and above all, good for you. Now, you girls, go there and show them who you are.”

Lizzie took a deep breath. This was her dream university and she wouldn’t let Hope Mikaelson take it away. They left Mr. Williams classroom and Lizzie finally looked at Hope. Lizzie was about to bitch about Hope stealing her spotlight when Josie came running and hugged her.

“You will not believe what I have to tell you.” Josie exclaimed excited.

“You won’t believe what I have to tell you either but go first. You look more excited than me, anyway.” Lizzie said and turned around to see if Hope had listened but Hope was already gone. Lizzie frowned.

“Miss Tig just told me that Brown wants me in their Summer Program. Isn’t it perfect? They have the best-”

“…writing Program in the US. Yes, Josie, I know. You’ve been saying that since you were 8 and you won that Poetry contest.” Lizzie said smiling. “I’m so happy for you, Jo! You know what Summer Program means.”

“ _You’re already with a foot inside the university_.” They said together; a chant that their dad had been saying since they were born. They started to laugh.

“Now you tell me your news.” She said looking pointedly at the box on Lizzie’s hands. It had _‘Harvard’_ written in big red letters. Lizzie grinned.

“This twin here just got accepted to Harvard’s Summer Program.” She said and Josie hugged her smiling. “There’s a _but,_ though.” Lizzie said groaning.

“What _but_ could possibly exist?” Josie said frowning.

“Hope Mikaelson also got accepted.”

“What? I thought they only chose one student per school.” Josie said, frown deepening.

“So did I.” Said Lizzie huffing. “I swear to god, Josie, she’s gonna pay.” Lizzie said, a diabolical smirk creeping on her face.

“Oh no, Lizzie.” Josie grunted. “What are you going to do?” Josie asked and Lizzie’s grin grew bigger.

“This time, I’ll own Hope Mikaelson once and for all.” She said determined.

* * *

“Okay, I have news.” Hope declared that night at diner. Her parents looked at her with glowing eyes. “I just got accepted to Harvard’s Summer Program.” She said smiling and then they all started to scream their congratulations at the same time. The Mikaelsons were a loud bunch and today was her father’s birthday so they were all in Hope’s house.

“This is amazing, Hope.” Her mom said kissing her head.

“This is the best birthday gift, little one.” Her dad said with a proud smile. Hope almost rolled her eyes. Her family would say they were proud of her even if she decided that she would spend her life growing weed on her bedroom.

“Thank you all. There’s more to this, though.” Hope said and looked at them. “Lizzie Saltzman was also accepted in the same Program.” She watched as silence took over everyone.

“I thought that only one…” Her aunt started but Hope interrupted her.

“Me too. The teacher too. The whole academic body did too. Lizzie’s _I wanna puke_ face when we got the news also indicates that she was surprised too.” Hope said grunting.

“Are we talking about the same Lizzie Saltzman that left Hope eating dust and won first place at the Young Nobel Prize last year?” Hope’s cousin, Nik, asked smirking. He damn knew it was the same Lizzie Saltzman. Hope narrowed her eyes.

“Shut up.” Hope said sticking out her tongue at him.

“Very mature of you, Hope.” He said, dignified in all his 7 years. His mom, Keelin, pinched him lightly and he laughed.

“Are you annoyed that she got in too? I can always call Harvard’s admission officer and make her get kicked out.”

“Dad!” Hope shouted. “You can’t just get rid of people.” Hope said annoyed.

“Of course I can. I’m rich. If you had left me take her out of Young Noble last year you wouldn’t have gotten second place.” He said raising his eyebrows and Hope rolled her eyes. Hope’s mom slapped her dad in the arm. Hope laughed at them. She would miss them when she moved away to attend university. She would miss everything if she were honest. She would miss her dad and his overprotectiveness, her mom and her terrible pep talks, her aunts and their teasing about Lizzie. _Lizzie Saltzman_. Hope would definitely miss competing with Lizzie Saltzman. She would miss the way Lizzie rolled her eyes when Hope said something that she couldn’t disagree; she would miss how flushed Lizzie would be when they were on a debate; she would miss Lizzie being a bitch when Hope won first place and Lizzie was relegated to second. Lizzie’s reaction was prize enough to Hope. She would also miss how soft Lizzie was when-

“Hope, we’re talking to you.” Her uncle Kol said snapping his fingers to get her attention.

“What?” Hope asked blushing as if everyone in the table could tell what she was thinking about.

“This is your last chance to kiss her goodbye, right?” Aunt Rebekah said and Hope choked. She opened her mouth and then closed _. They couldn’t be telling her that, right? Maybe they did know what she was thinking. Not that she was thinking about it. Not at all._

“What- what do you mean?” Hope asked feeling her face hot. Her mom was holding her laugh, Hope could notice it.

“You know what I mean. Knock her out. Make her eat dust. Win. This is your last chance because after Summer you two will go to different universities.” Rebekah explained and Hope finally breathed. They weren’t really talking about Hope kissing Lizzie. That would be totally preposterous.

“Yes and I totally will.” Hope said confident, sticking out her tongue at Nik when he murmured ' _that’s what you said just before you lost Young Noble'_. After everyone left after dinner and Hope was in her bedroom getting ready to sleep, her mom came to talk to her.

“So, you and Lizzie again.” She said sitting on Hope’s bed.

“Yeah. It’s like people like to see us competing.” Hope said throwing herself on the bed next to her mom.

“They do, sweetie. They definitely do.” Her mom said laughing.

“What do you mean?” Hope asked frowning.

“I mean- the two of you have been together in class ever since kindergarten. Why do you think they never split you in different classes? And they always choose you two to any competitions and-”

“Sometimes they choose Josie.” Hope said defensive.

“Only on writing competitions. The truth is that every time they have a match or tournament, they choose you and Lizzie.” Her mom finished and Hope buffed.

“I know.” She admitted sighing after a while.

“That’s because they like to see you two in action. It’s really interesting, you know.” Her mom said amused. “It’s like watching the Super Bowl; you don’t really care about who’s winning or losing but you love the commercials. And Hope, you and Lizzie give a show in the commercials.”

“No, we don’t.” Hope shouted.

“It’s not even about your big brains.” Her mom wondered ignoring Hope. “They choose you because of your personalities. I will never forget about that one time you two joined students from all over the country to that _Ask & Answer the future president_ debate where you guys confronted the candidates about their plans for the country and you and Lizzie joined forces to destroy that intolerant asshole. You roasted him. I swear to god he left crying.” Her mom started to laugh and Hope joined her. She remembered Lizzie knocking on her hotel door at 3am after the first day of debate to propose an alliance between them to _bring that bitch down_ as she put it. They spent the rest of the night together reading and writing and researching. It turned out effective because he lost the election. Not that Hope thought that much of herself to think it was because of them.

“We did get kicked out of A&A.” Hope remarked.

“Only because you broke a lot of rules. But that was what cemented your record. That A&A had student from 6th grade to university. The fact that two 8th graders owned it probably had all universities with their eyes on you since then.” Her mom finished smiling. “You could get into any university you want.” Her mom said watching her closely.

“I know.” She said, then “I don’t know if I wanna go to Harvard that much.” She didn’t know why she said it but her mom seemed to understand it.

“I know.”

“I just applied to its Summer Program because…” Hope started but wasn’t able to finish.

“Oh, trust me, Hope, I know it too.” Her mom said laughing. Then she looked at Hope with entertained eyes. “Like your aunt Rebekah said, this is your time to _kiss her goodbye_.” Her mom said grinning and standing up. Hope knew that this time it didn’t mean to knock Lizzie down. Hope blushed.

“I don’t know if she…” She looked at her mom for her to understand.

“She does.” Her mom said smiling from the door.

“How could you know?” Hope said frowning.

“You’ll have to take my word for it. Now go to sleep. Goodnight, honey.” Her mom said closing the door.

* * *

“I’m happy you’re so excited.” Hope said and Lizzie rolled her eyes. Hope’s mom saw Lizzie’s roll and smiled. Lizzie blushed and looked away.

“I couldn’t even believe when the teacher told me I got in.” She heard her sister telling Hope. They were at the airport. Hope and Lizzie would go to Harvard and Josie to Brown. Lizzie was super nervous but she tried not to let anyone see. It would be the first time she would be away from her sister this long. She watched as Hope’s mom excused herself from the conversation she was having with Hope’s dad and Lizzie’s parents.

“Lizzie, I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to you after I heard the news. I’m happy you got into the Summer Program. Congratulations.” She said smiling that _Hope smile_ that Lizzie found so annoying on Hope. On her mom, though, it looked warming.

“Thank you. I’m happy too.”

“I hope you and Hope enjoy this summer.” She said with _something_ in her voice that Lizzie didn’t quite understand. She tilted her head.

“We will.” Lizzie said politely. Hope’s mom opened her mouth to say something and Lizzie’s heart skipped a beat waiting for it when Josie’s voice interrupted what she was about to say.

“They’re already calling my flight.” She said looking at Lizzie. Lizzie went to her sister and hugged her.

“I love you, Jo.” She whispered, tightening the hug.

“I love you too, Lizzie.” Josie said almost crying. Lizzie felt their parents hugging them too. After a few tears and goodbyes, Josie finally was ready to go. When she was about to enter the door, though, Lizzie smiled.

“Kiss a lot of hot veteran girls and boys in there.” She screamed earning a glare from her dad. She almost felt Josie’s blush.

“Kiss one girl in special there too.” Josie screamed back and Lizzie blushed. Hope glared at her and Lizzie ignored. She would not look at Hope Mikaelson right now.

Soon Lizzie’s flight was calling too and she said her goodbyes and entered the plane with Hope. They had been updated to first class; Lizzie was told. She rolled her eyes. She was sure it was Hope’s dad. When they were comfortable and the plane finally took off, she managed the courage to look at Hope.

“I propose a truce.” Lizzie said.

“Just like you proposed in Robotics Competition just before you made your robot throw mine out of the ring?” Hope said slowly raising an eyebrow.

“That was in 5th grade and I was angry at you for not going to my birthday party.” Lizzie said and Hope rolled her eyes. She looked at Lizzie.

“What do you propose in the truce?”

“50/50. This way we both get to shine individually. We can arrange in which subjects we’ll shine when we get our class schedule. Of course, I’ll have preference in science and you in history and social studies.” Lizzie said matter-of-factly.

“We’ll have to arrange it better. What about 40/40 and the last 20 we compete? You know they’re only taking the both of us because they’re expecting a show.” Hope said huffing.

“They totally want another A&A, right?” Said Lizzie grunting.

“They do.” Hope said annoyed. Lizzie nodded. Then she smiled.

“Well, let’s give them just that. You know, I was about to break our truce and slay you to shreds when we got there but I have a new idea.” Lizzie said smirking.

“You’re impossible, Lizzie.” Hope exclaimed surprised. Then she laughed. “I should’ve expected, though.”

“Yes, you totally should’ve.” Lizzie said winking at her. “Now hear me out because I have big plans for us.”


	2. Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie and Hope arrived at Harvard and talk about their plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that I took soooooo long to update this one. There's really no excuse. I hope you like it.
> 
> This Lizzie and this Hope are total dumbasses and they're so cute. This Hope reminds me of TO Hope that was so awkward and sweet.

When they finally arrived at the university, they were gathered along with the other students in an auditorium. They were welcomed and explained the rules of the place, as well as where they would live for the next weeks and how their schedule would work. When they finished explaining everything, they gave the students envelopes containing a Harvard shirt, pens, a book of rules and maps of the campus and a key to their dorm. It would be shared, two students per dorm. They couldn’t ask to change roommates or dorms and the combinations had been made by sorting. Hope, lucky as she was, ended up with Lizzie. She should’ve expected, after all she was responsible for putting herself in this situation so she couldn’t complain if or when the universe decided to catch a laugh at her expanses.

After unpacking her things and organizing her side of the room, Hope sat on the bed and watched Lizzie finishing her part. They knew each other since they were born, but theirs was a weird relationship. While Hope could talk to Josie and hang out with her, she could barely talk to Lizzie anything else besides school stuff. Anything else seemed odd to talk about. When they were little, they were pretty good friends and they would be at each other’s houses every weekend. The fact that Hope’s mom and dad and the twins’ mom and stepdad went to high school together and were friends helped the families to be close. But growing up, Hope noticed a tension between her and Lizzie. It was like electricity. Hope loved it when they were participating in some competition because it gave them fuel but she hated it when they were just talking because it felt like the air was heavy and Hope’s heart would beat fast and her stomach would jump. Hope couldn’t quite comprehend why she felt like that until a few weeks ago.

_Hope was looking at her phone when she heard her mom giggling. Hope didn’t understand that giggle at all so she asked her mom what was so funny about it._

_“Why don’t you just ask her?” Her mother told her instead._

_“Ask whom what?” Hope questioned frowning._

_“Ask Lizzie out. It’s better than staring at this photo of you two when you were twelve.” Her mom said making Hope blush furiously._

_“Why would I ask Lizzie out?” Hope asked really not understanding her mom’s point. Her mom shook her head laughing._

_“You’re clearly in love with her.” Her mom said and Hope’s eyes widened, the final piece of the puzzle finally in place. That was why Hope felt her body tingling when she was close to Lizzie and her breath seemed to be stuck in her throat. It made sense. Hope was in love with Lizzie of all people._

Of course, she didn’t tell her mom that. Neither did she ask Lizzie out. To be honest, she did nothing about it besides stare longingly at Lizzie when she thought the girl wasn’t looking. After all, how could she go after Lizzie? The girl was a hurricane. Whip smart, drop dead beautiful and confident. Hope could bet that if she were interested in Hope, they would be kissing right now because there’s no way Lizzie would do nothing about it like Hope. In Hope’s defense, she thought that it was better this way, after all even if Lizzie did like her like that too they were weeks away from their high school graduation and soon they would go to different universities in different states and maybe see each other once a year. What good could come out of that?

“Stop staring at me creepily.” Lizzie said frowning and Hope looked away blushing.

“I wasn’t staring.” Hope said rolling her eyes. “Are you going to the welcome party?” She asked a few seconds later changing the subject.

“Maybe. Are you?” Lizzie asked sitting on her bed. Hope thought about it. She wasn’t really a party person. She was more of a… “I think I’ll just chill watching Netflix and pretending like the other students don’t exist?” Lizzie said as if she was reading Hope’s mind.

“Don’t you wanna go to the party?”

“Not really. I don’t feel like going without Josie.” Lizzie said looking away shyly. Hope found it adorable. Lizzie wasn’t usually shy.

“Have you called her yet?” Hope asked and Lizzie shook her head.

“I only texted her but she hasn’t answered so she’s probably busy.” Lizzie said and something on her face made Hope ask.

“How about instead of just staying in on our first day here, we take a walk around the campus and get to know things. Maybe we even get inspired and go to the party.” Hope proposed and Lizzie tilted her head thinking about it. It occurred to Hope that she was literally asking Lizzie out. She almost started hyperventilating while she waited for Lizzie’s response.

“Okay.” So they went out. Hope realized that she had no idea what to do or say or act. She was anxious and her crush on Lizzie didn’t help her so she did the only thing she had been doing all these years, the only thing she was confident to talk about with Lizzie.

“So tomorrow we start our war against the other students.” Hope said and for some reason Lizzie’s frown seemed a little like disappointment with the route of the conversation. She smiled, though, and Hope though that she had imagined it.

“Yes. Just like we planed on the plane. They never take two students from the same school to the summer course but then they took us. They also never accept two students from the same school but this year they’ll take both of us.” Lizzie said excited, a million plans in her mind.

“There’s a flaw to your plan, though.” Hope said and Lizzie frowned.

“My plans never have flaws.”

“Cocky much.” Hope laughed. “You forgot to take into account that if they accept the both of us, we’ll spend the next four years bumping into each other here too. I thought that after High School was over we would be finally free of each other.” Hope said realizing too late that she hadn’t expressed herself well. Shit.

“Oh wow. I didn’t know you hated me that much.” Lizzie said looking away. Hope cursed herself.

“That’s not what I meant.” Hope tried. “It’s just- I just-”

“Relax, Mikaelson. I was messing with you.” Lizzie said rolling her eyes. “It’s not like I wanna keep seeing you either.”

“Oh.” Now was Hope’s time to look away embarrassed. Lizzie didn’t want to keep seeing her. She just wanted school year to finish already so she could go away and only see Hope we she came back home for holidays.

“And even if we did end up attending university here, we wouldn’t need to bump into each other. I mean, look at the size of this place.” Lizzie said looking around. “And we won’t even be in the same department. You’re clearly going to arts and I’m going to science. We can spend the next years without never seeing each other aside from holidays and vacations when we go back home.”

“Science, huh?” Hope asked interested. She always knew Lizzie would choose a career in the science field. Since they were little Lizzie was better in science and math. Hope had to study way harder to try to be even with Lizzie.

“Neuroscience.” Lizzie said proud, eyes glinting with anticipation. It fit her, Hope thought, the fascination with the brain. Lizzie loved puzzles and what is the brain if not the hardest puzzle of all? “You’re architecture, right?” Lizzie asked.

“Architecture?” Hope asked curious to know how Lizzie knew.

“Well, your favorite toy when we were children was the engineer set and no one that doesn’t plan to follow a career in architecture possesses that many pictures of buildings from all over the world.” Lizzie said alluding Hope’s bedroom whose walls were filled with pictures she had taken in her travels with her family. Hope was surprised to see how much attention Lizzie payed to her and what she liked. It shouldn’t surprise Hope, though, because Lizzie had always been thoughtful about what other people liked.

“Yes.” Hope said blushing for some dumb reason. When they found a bench in one of the gardens, they sat.

“This place is beautiful.” Lizzie said looking around. And it was beautiful. There were flowers that had fallen from the trees, the air was warm and nice, some students would cross the garden running and smiling at some inside joke that Hope would never know and most important: she was beside the person that had been there with her since childhood. She looked at Lizzie and realized that the other girl was already looking at her.

“What?” Hope asked when Lizzie’s stare didn’t waver.

“Why did you never ask me out?” Lizzie asked curiously and Hope looked around to make sure there weren’t cameras recording her for a prank show.

“W-What?” Hope stuttered.

“We grew up together. We went to each other’s birthday parties, summer camps, competitions, family travels and family events. I was at your aunts’ wedding and you were at my grandmother’s funeral. But you never asked me out to the movies or to eat ice cream or just to hang out.” Lizzie said looking intensely at Hope.

“I-” Hope tried but her heart was beating too fast for her to think clearly.

“As friends.” Lizzie added when she noticed Hope’s meltdown. “We’re friends, right?” Lizzie asked a little blush spreading across her cheeks and neck. Hope finally breathed. She was back at her comfort zone because Lizzie was just meaning friendship.

“Of course we’re friends. I mean, you used to steal my lollipops when our moms weren’t looking and I never turned you in. That’s the final proof of friendship.” Hope said smiling and Lizzie smiled too nodding. Hope, though, couldn’t shake the feeling that told her that Lizzie’s smile seemed strained. She hoped she was wrong.

* * *

Hope didn’t like her. Well, she tried. She had promised her sister just before coming that Lizzie would seize this opportunity of being with Hope in a different environment to test her and analyze her feelings towards Lizzie. Josie was sure that Hope was in love with Lizzie. She had even convinced Lizzie to tell Hope that she also like her. It had been the most embarrassing moment of her life when she noticed that Hope’s mom had listened to Lizzie declaring herself to an empty room that she thought Hope was in. After that miserably failed attempt at pursuing love, Lizzie had made up her mind that she would only tell Hope that she like her if Hope told her first. No way in hell she would put herself through that awkwardness again without being 99% sure of a positive response.

Now she had just tried to ask Hope why they never had gone on a date before and Hope only looked at her as if she were crazy for considering that. That was why Lizzie had to add that she meant it platonically. The relieve in Hope’s eyes was enough answer to Lizzie. Josie was tremendously wrong and Lizzie was happy that Hope’s mom was the only listener of her pathetic love declaration. The fact that she had a letter on her hand with the topics she had to mention on her declaration to Hope only made it more laughable. Lizzie admired Hayley for not bursting out in laugh right in front of her.

After spending some time sitting on the bench and remembering childhood memories like two old ladies would do, they decided to grab something to eat and go back to their dorm. They eventually went back to their dorm and Lizzie tried to ignore the pang in her heart. She shouldn’t be so surprised. Lizzie was a lot to handle. Too competitive, too ferocious, too loud and just too much. Hope was the total opposite. Soft where Lizzie was sharp. Spontaneous where Lizzie was systematic. Simply totally good where Lizzie barely tolerated people. And perhaps the most contrasting aspect of them was Lizzie being a noise so loud when Hope was an ecchoing silence. Lizzie actually thought that they would fit perfectly because of how different they were and at the same time being so alike. Their intensity could only be matched by each other; like a scale in perfect equilibrium.

“Lizzie?” Hope called from her bed. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Hope.” Lizzie said thinking that maybe she was wrong and they weren't a match for each other at last.

When they woke up and went to their first class, Lizzie was glad she had something else to concentrate besides her heart race when Hope was around. About halfway through their class the professor asked something and both Lizzie and Hope raised their hands. When the professor called Hope and Hope answered it, she smirked at her with that smile that made Lizzie’s body tingle. The next question, though, went for Lizzie and she answered it better than a university student would. By the end of the class the professor and the other students knew they weren’t just trying to be the best to get into Harvard as much as they were trying to prove something to each other. When Lizzie was walking to the next classroom, Hope caught up with her.

“Aren’t we on the same side now? If so, why did you try to best me every time?” Hope asked narrowing her eyes.

“I mean, yes, we are against the rest of the students, of course. But did you really think that I would lose an opportunity to shred you to pieces just because we’re allies now?” Lizzie asked really curious and Hope laughed.

“Actually, no, Lizzie. I didn’t expect anything different from you.” Hope said shaking her head, a fond smile on her lips.

“Huh.” Lizzie said frowning at Hope.

“What?”

“You said that like a compliment.” Lizzie said finding it weird.

“Why wouldn’t it be? You’re the fiercest person I’ve ever met and I think that’s absolutely amazing.” Hope said blushing and looking away. Then she walked past Lizzie, just stopping by the entrance of their classroom's door to look at Lizzie smirking. “Later today we have History anyway so I’ll totally going to crush you.” She said winking and leaving Lizzie confused behind. Mixed signals was the name of it. How could Lizzie go from thinking that Hope didn’t like her to thinking that Hope was flirting with her this fast? She blamed it on Hope Mikaelson and her mixed signals. Lizzie sighed out loud before entering the classroom. When she found a place and sat, the professor entered the classroom and introduced himself. After talking about what they would talk about on the course of the next weeks they would spend together, he said that he planned an assignment. He asked the students to organize themselves in pairs and tell him. Lizzie and Hope, actively exercising their truce, formed a pair. The professor said that the themes would be sorted between the pairs.

“Hope Mikaelson and Elizabeth Saltzman. An Essay on Attraction.” The professor said unaware of the effect his words had on Lizzie. An Essay on Attraction. When she looked at Hope and noticed the other girl’s blushed face, Lizzie thought that maybe, just maybe, fate was working on their favor and she would finish this Summer Course kissing Hope Mikaelson from dusk till dawn. Lizzie’s phone vibrated in her pocket and she smiled when she read her sister’s text.

**Have you kissed her yet?**

**Jo.**

**Working on it.**

**You.**

Lizzie typed and then looked at Hope Mikaelson smirking. “Let’s talk about attraction.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it?
> 
> I REALLY HOPE SO. LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.


	3. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happening. Fluffy things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm embarrassed that I took so long to update but better late than never.  
> I hope you like this chapter. It's a little fluffy and it will set what Lizzie and Hope will spend the next chapter doing which is going to be really cute and funny.

“Tell me again why I’m being the test subject?” Hope asked frowning.

“Because I’m the scientist.” Lizzie answered as if it were obvious. “Well, since attraction is directly related to the levels of some hormones in the brain and we can’t really measure them in a non-invasive way, we’ll have to make use of less sophisticated equipment.” Lizzie said, white lab coat and glasses. Hope thought that she looked really cute.

“And what will this measure anyway?” Hope asked. Lizzie only had told her this morning, two days after the professor had given them the assignment, that she had gotten permission from him to use some of the university’s resources.

“Well, it’s a heart rate monitor. You’ll use it tied to your chest all day and some nights. We’re going to watch how your heart reacts to situations. Foods you like, books you enjoy or people you feel attracted to.” Lizzie finished with a smirk turning around to pick up the monitor. Hope’s eyes widened. They would watch her heart rate now? “We’re going to set up an alarm in case your heart rate increases too much so we can try to know what’s causing it and write it down for examination. We’ll also put you in a machine to scan your brain once a week and show you pictures of things and people you might be attracted to and compare the results with already documented cases at the end of the third week.” Lizzie said finishing attaching the monitor to Hope’s chest. The iPad on the table next to them started to beep very loudly. “Oh, you heart rate is very high right now. Are you nervous?” Lizzie asked frowning. Hope opened her mouth but no words came out of it. Was she nervous? Really? She was freaking out and the monitor had just warned them about it. _Great!_

“I’m just… _very excited_ about it.” Hope tried smiling and Lizzie nodded.

“That’s why your heartbeat is high then. For a second I thought that you were nervous about it.” Lizzie said and then rolled her eyes as if she were being stupid. “But why would you be nervous?”

“Yeah. Why would I be?” Hope asked trying not to think about the multiple times her heart seemed to try to escape from her chest when Lizzie did something specially Lizzie-y. She was totally screwed.

“Huh, that’s interesting.” Lizzie said looking at the iPad.

“What is it?” Hope asked traying to look casually.

“Your heartbeat is increasing. You must be really excited.” Lizzie said smirking at Hope as if she knew something Hope didn’t; Hope was pretty sure Lizzie was making fun of her. She ignored it because she actually didn’t think Lizzie would tell her the reason of the smirk if she asked. She decided to change the subject.

“I actually think that we should go both ways.” Hope said as a plan started to take form in her mind.

“What do you mean?” Lizzie asked putting the iPad on the table and coming to sit on the chair in front of Hope.

“We shouldn’t rely only on scientific research and mathematics to evaluate attraction.” Hope said and Lizzie frowned. “I mean, science is amazing and all…”

“Science and math are reliable.” Lizzie muttered and Hope ignored her smiling in that way she knew it made Lizzie’s skin crawl. She watched as Lizzie tilted her head.

“But before science, people had to understand and show attraction in the old ways.” Hope said giving Lizzie a pointed look. Lizzie’s frown deepened.

“Like stealing sleeping women from their beds or competing in a duel or-” Lizzie started and Hope stopped her.

“No, Lizzie.” Hope laughed. “Like poems and paintings and secret love letters. You know, art.” Hope said.

“How would we measure art, Hope? It’s not a reliable source.” Lizzie said shaking her head ready to dismiss Hope. Hope would also dismiss herself if she hadn’t a very compelling reason that she knew Lizzie couldn’t deny.

“Let’s say we’re both the test subjects. You’ll use your science because that’s what you do and I’ll use art because that’s what I do. On you. Because it’s only fair.” Hope said and Lizzie opened her mouth to talk. But Hope wasn’t finished. “We can’t ignore thousands of years of love and attraction being shown through books, paintings and letters. It’s _very unprofessional_ to dismiss it just because we feel like it.” Hope finished and watched as Lizzie nodded begrudgingly.

“You’re right. But how do you propose that we take that into account?” Lizzie asked and Hope tilted her head smiling.

“Let that part with me. I’ll show you my idea tomorrow, okay?” Hope asked and Lizzie nodded. Hope knew Lizzie didn’t want to go out of her comfort zone but she was willing to do it if that meant that their project would be better than the others. Hope liked that about Lizzie very much; she never backed down. The iPad started bleeping. Hope cursed. She would have to work on that too.

When she left the lab with Lizzie and they parted ways, Hope looked at her phone. Maybe she could get some help, she thought.

“Hello, honey. Is everything okay?” Her mom asked worried that Hope was calling her in the middle of the day.

“Yes, it is. I just need your help with something.” Hope said.

“Something?” Her mom asked and Hope bit her lip.

“Someone.” Hope corrected and then heard her mom laughing.

“Did you finally realize Lizzie’s as in love with you as you’re in love with her?” Her mother asked and Hope could hear the smirk in her voice.

“Something like that.” Hope said thinking about how Lizzie

* * *

_Hope Mikaelson was totally in love with Lizzie_. That was Lizzie’s assessment of Hope’s constant heart rate increase. Lizzie had linked her phone to the iPad so instead of a loud beep every time Hope’s heart accelerated, she got a message. Long story short: Hope needed to visit a cardiologist because her heart rate was worryingly high and it made Lizzie get more messages in one day than Lizzie usually got in a whole week. There was this one time Lizzie _accidentally_ left her laptop playing a video of her and Josie in the beach to go to the bathroom and she got a text that Hope’s heartbeat was peaking. Not that Lizzie was _guinea pig-ing_ Hope; that would be totally unethical, but Lizzie was sure having a great time watching Hope pretend that she wasn’t in love with Lizzie. Why Hope was doing that, though, was beyond Lizzie’s understand because Lizzie was clearly in love with Hope too and Hope had to be stupid not to notice. Lizzie argued with herself that maybe she wasn’t as transparent as she thought she was and Hope hadn’t noticed Lizzie’s clear flirting moves. But that couldn’t be right; Lizzie was as subtle as an elephant like Josie use to say and there’s no way Hayley didn’t tease Hope about Lizzie. Hayley sure did tease Lizzie about Hope a lot.

“Close your eyes.” Hope said entering their dorm with an excited face. Beautiful. Oh god, how Lizzie loved _excited Hope_. She used to watch Hope doing things she liked just to see that perfect glint in her eyes that made Lizzie wish one day she would look at her with that exact glint. Funny that somewhere between children and now, Hope started to look at her just like that and Lizzie took so long to realize. At least Lizzie hoped so; she was pretty sure Hope was in love with her but, again, Lizzie had a very creative mind and she could be projecting her own feelings. Lizzie closed her eyes a few seconds too late because she was staring at Hope. She heard some noise like Hope was changing things out of place. “You can open it.” Lizzie heard at the same time she got a message on her phone. She knew it was Hope’s heart. _Excited_ , indeed.

“What is it?” Lizzie asked looking at the pictures Hope had brought to their dorm and scattered across the floor.

“These are photos of paintings.” Hope started. “I want you to guess which ones were painted by people in love.” Hope said grinning.

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Lizzie asked as if it were absurd.

“You just look at it and tell me. I’m testing something.” Hope said and when Lizzie kept looking at her skeptically, Hope rolled her eyes. “Come on, humor me.” She said and it was something so casual, so comfortable, _so them_ that Lizzie had to stop her mind from going places; disgustingly romantic places.

“Okay.” Lizzie rolled her eyes and looked better at the pictures. She couldn’t say no to a challenge even if said challenge was the dumbest thing Lizzie had ever seen. But Hope had asked her and Lizzie had promised her that they would also study Hope’s approach to attraction. “This one.” Lizzie said after looking some time at the photo. She studied the other ones and told Hope which ones she thought were painted by someone in love.

“Hmm.” Hope said smirking in that way Lizzie knew she wanted her to ask what. Lizzie didn’t ask because even though she was in love with Hope Mikaelson, she wouldn’t stop being herself and just bite Hope’s bait. When Hope noticed that Lizzie wasn’t going to ask, she grinned. Lizzie had goosebumps. She hated Hope’s grin as much as she loved it. Lizzie sighed internally; being her wasn’t easy. “Well, you got 85% of the paintings right.” Hope explained and Lizzie frowned.

“And what does that tell us?” Lizzie asked.

“That you’re in love or at least had fallen in love once.” Hope said and Lizzie inhaled before realizing that Hope hadn’t meant _in love with me._

“Says who?” Lizzie asked trying to ignore the blush she knew she was displaying. She also ignored how Hope tilted her head as if she were cataloging that shade of red to paint it later.

“A scientific study, if you can believe. It says that people in love can guess more art pieces that were made by other people in love than people that had never fallen in love before or for a long time.” Hope explained giving Lizzie a book on the subject. “Just like relating to something. I can relate with people with big families because I have a big warm family. The premise behind the study is that people in love can relate to other people in love, therefore guessing most paintings correctly.”

“That’s-” Lizzie was about to say stupid, but it actually wasn’t. “That’s interesting but our work is on attraction. Attraction and love are not the same.” Lizzie said.

“No, they’re not quite the same if you think of love as an attachment or long term commitment. But if you think of _in-loviness_ like the early stages of a relationship or the pining for someone you have a crush on…” Hope said that just in a way that made Lizzie wonder if she was aware of Lizzie’s feelings or she was just plain stupid; and if the later were true, Lizzie was the one stupid to fall for such a dumb person. “…the hormones that cause both attraction and _in-loviness_ are the same: dopamine and norepinephrine. Just plain old science just like you love.” Hope finished. Lizzie looked at the book.

“It’s a Harvard study.” Lizzie said reading the summary of the book. To be honest, she had actually gotten interested in it. “How do you plan on using this study as base to our essay?”

“We’ll study the ways people demonstrate attraction through music, poem, paintings and letters and then we’ll going to go through it all; the both of us. Ticking every box , we’re going on dates and talk about the topics they said it makes people attracted, we’ll use the colors that science associate attraction with.”

“Why would we do that?” Lizzie asked finding it weir Hope’s funny face.

“Because we’re doing a work and you as a scientist should know what you’re talking about before just writing down some scientific explanation that will be too boring alone. It’s going to be way funnier if we do our work like this too. The other students will like it and the teacher will find it interesting.” Hope said confident.

“We can do it but I’ll keep doing my way too.” Lizzie said. She wouldn’t give up on her way and Hope knew it. Hope nodded.

“That’s good. When we’re approaching our deadline, we can work it all together in a way that both our sides match.” Hope said and Lizzie nodded agreeing. “Now that we agreed on this… I’d like to take you out for our first assignment.” Hope smiled.

“Where?” Lizzie asked curious, her heart beating faster than Hope’s even if Lizzie’s phone had gotten at least three messages since the begging of this talk.

“Our first date.” Hope said blushing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let comments to make me happy  
> I love you all for reading my fics  
> FEEL HUGGED AND KISSED


	4. Assignment: First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, guys. It took me time hahaha I shouldn't even give excuses hahaha I'm laughing so hard sorry i entertain myself with my own antics.  
> Anyway, like I always say: it may take long but I always finish my things. So here it it the last chapter of this one.  
> I really hope you like it because I really enjoyed writing shy and cute Hope and Lizzie. They were so damn oblivious and so clearly in love like PLS.
> 
> LOVE THIS PLEASE AND TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS
> 
> A great sunday (or monday) for y'all and see you soon.

Lizzie didn’t enjoy people babbling after the age of five. Small kids were allowed to babble but teenagers and adults should have gotten the hand of it and should be able to hold a conversation without the unnecessary chattering. People would really appreciate more if people could just get to the damn point of a conversation instead of wasting uncountable minutes of someone’s life with chatter. Apparently, this Lizzie Principle that had ruled Lizzie’s life for so long didn’t apply to Hope. Lizzie found that Hope’s babble was adorable.

“… resulting in this study where Dr. Richard Wiseman says that couple should just skip the entire movies subject and just jump to the Travel subject because…” Hope continued. She had already said that last phrase at least three times but with different words and word sequence. Lizzie was almost feeling sorry for her but she looked so cute.

“Your point?” Lizzie asked after Hope started to explain again something that Lizzie had gotten in the first time.

“We should talk about travel.” Hope said biting her lip and looking around. Lizzie looked around too. After Hope had proposed the infamous way to conduct this project and Lizzie had agreed because she was weak for Hope Mikaelson, Hope had brought her to this place.

“That’s why you brought me here.” Lizzie said smiling and Hope smiled too.

“This is the Architecture Hall. You see all the miniatures? Over the years, the students were asked to reproduce the world’s best sceneries or constructions and the best works ended up here. I thought that we could travel around the world for a bit.” Hope said blushing and Lizzie had to hold herself not to kiss the girl senseless. Hope was so damn romantic. Lizzie had known that, of course, but to see Hope being romantic with her had such an intoxicating effect in her body that Lizzie felt dizzy.

“I loved it.” Lizzie said and Hope’s smile grew bigger and she pointed at one of the little constructions for them to go visit.

“First stop, Greece.” Hope said showing Lizzie a perfect reproduction of a Greek ancient building. Lizzie had never traveled as much as Hope had but she had had this crush on Hope going on for a long time so she always read about architecture in hopes that one day she would be able to impress Hope. She also read a lot because she always liked to be the smartest in the room and having a vast collection of knowledge helped in that. Lizzie smirked.

“Our eight grade assignment of the Parthenon looked better.” Lizzie pointed out and Hope smirked back.

“Of course it did but let’s pretend we find this one here interesting.” Hope said and she saw how at easy Hope had gotten when Lizzie had said the smug statement. Lizzie loved that Hope felt more at easy when Lizzie was being herself than when she was just trying to be something; Hope liked her snarky smug usual self. If that wasn’t a confidence boost, Lizzie didn’t know what was.

“What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited?” Lizzie asked and Hope smiled. Lizzie knew the answer and Hope knew she knew the answer but she smiled softly anyway.

“A city called Alta in Norway.” Hope answered. “I’ve seen there the prettiest sky lights. It was like being in love and finding out the other person likes you too.” Hope glanced at her blushing. “It was like skydiving and or climbing the highest mountain. It was so amazing.” Hope finished smiling softly and Lizzie’s heart skipped a beat and then two and three. “It was like looking at you.” Hope whispered and Lizzie’s eye snapped to hers. It had been like Hope had said that without even noticing.

“What?” Lizzie whispered.

* * *

Hope could answer that question in a lot of ways. She could joke and change subject. She could run away and hide in her dorm which was a very good option but then she dared to look at Lizzie and her eyes were staring at Hope with longing and Hope knew that moment that Lizzie was so in love with her as Hope was with her.

“When I went there last year I had no idea why I kept thinking about you until my mom explained it.” Hope said giggling softly because her mom had known it for so long and Hope had been really dumb.

“What did your mom tell you?” Lizzie asked a little nervous and Hope smiled at her.

“That the reason I thought about you was because I was in love.” Hope said bold and trying not to blush too much.

“Oh.” Was all that Lizzie said..

“Not very eloquent of you.” Hope said smirking; confidence coming from god knows where. Lizzie smirked despite the pink cheeks. 

“Yeah, because you’re eloquent all the time.” Lizzie said and Hope laughed. Only they could sass each other during a love confession. Hope bit her lip.

“Let’s continue.” She said and pointing at the next mini building. And they went. Hope noticed that Lizzie kept glancing at her with a dumb smile; probably a mirror of Hope’s own. They visited the whole exposition; not that Hope was paying that much attention to it all with Lizzie looking at her like that. It was a perfect date. After that they had ice cream and smiled at each other’s choice of flavors. It was awkward that after they spent the rest of the day together, they had to go back to the same room because they shared a dorm. Hope barely slept that night; her senses alert to every Lizzie movement. Hope could bet that Lizzie’s didn’t sleep at all too.

* * *

Lizzie didn’t sleep at all. She was with her back turned to Hope’s side of the room but she could _feel_ Hope’s eyes on her and try sleeping with that. She wasn’t tired, though, when she woke up. She smiled and picked up her notebook to write down:

> _First day of Hope’s attempts at making someone in love without knowing said person was already in love:_
> 
> _Hypomania - state of elevated mood, energy and activity caused by a brain cocktail of cortisol, vasopressin and oxytocin. It means that even though I didn’t sleep, I’m not tired at all. People in love usually experience this hypomanic-like condition._

She closed her notebook and got ready to class ignoring Hope’s looks that made nothing to calm her agitated mind. They parted ways with Hope telling her that that after their classes, they would go to part two of their project. When Lizzie curiously asked what was part two, Hope smiled.

“36 questions that lead to love.” Hope said leaving Lizzie thinking about that for the whole class. She was so caught up with it that when one of the professors asked her a question, she opened and closed her mouth like a fish and had to ask her to repeat the question. Not a very Lizzie thing to do. She counted hours and minutes and tried not to stare too much at Hope when they had shared classes. When mercifully the last class finished and Lizzie managed to get rid of one of the professors that wanted to talk to her bout her great potential and how Harvard would be a good fit for her; something that usually would get Lizzie more excited than anything; this time she just wanted to run to Hope and she did just that. But without the running part; on the outside she was pretty chill.

“Hope.” Lizzie called when she finally met Hope in a coffee shop she had texted Lizzie. Her classes had finished earlier than Lizzie’s and she was already here for about half an hour.

“Lizzie.” Hope said as Lizzie sat on the chair in front of her. “To our second assignment…” Hope started in a serious voice. Lizzie loved how dedicated Hope was. “We are going to answer these questions that New York Times said that lead to love. Are you ready?”

“I was born ready.” Lizzie said making Hope smile.

“I’ve separated the best ones for us. First question.” Hope said picking up a binder from her bag. Lizzie tried not to scream at how cute she looked. It was also funny that Lizzie’s cellphone kept sending texts to her all the damn time which meant that whether Hope heart’s was beating fast because of the excitement or she was having a heart attack. Lizzie hoped for the first.

  1. **_Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?_**



Hope asked and Lizzie thought about it. “Yes, I also think about possible answers they could give me and prepare to answer those questions too.” She said and Hope nodded.

“You’re a control freak.” Hope said serious and Lizzie pretended to be insulted.

“I am not. I just like things to go as planned. As for the why, I just said it. You?” Lizzie asked before Hope could start to tease Lizzie about how she loved to control everyone too. It was correct but they didn’t need to point that out.

“First of all, it’s not like I make that much phone calls.” Hope started and Lizzie laughed out loud. “And second, it wouldn’t matter because I would forget what I wanted to say.” Hope finished and Lizzie nodded.

“That’s why you make so many pauses when we’re talking on the phone.” Lizzie teased and Hope shook her head smiling.

“I make pauses because you don’t make any. Next question.”

  1. **What is your most treasured memory?**



“Your aunt Freya’s wedding eight years ago.” Lizzie said without even having to think about it. Hope noticed it and smiled curiously.

“Why?” She asked making Lizzie blush.

“It was beautiful. They were so happy; everyone was. Josie, you and I danced under the stars with the energy that only children have. We ate cake frosting till our bellies ached and our parents let us sleep in the tent on the backyard of your house and the three of us spent the whole night playing games and only slept when the sun was almost out.” Lizzie said remembering the amazing day. She was only nine years old and the day had been perfect. It had also been the day she thought for the first time that maybe the love of her life could also be a girl.

“It was perfect.” Hope agreed nodding.

“Yours?” Lizzie asked and Hope blushed just a little.

“Writing Competition.” Hope said and Lizzie laughed and almost spit her coffee. She knew exactly why Hope loved that day. “We decided to send a piece of writing to the School’s competition and not surprisingly, our stories were chosen to second round and then third till we were on final round. You, me, Jo and a couple of other students. You were so damn confident that you would win and I was so confident that I would win just to beat you hard…” Hope stopped laughing. “But then Josie beat both our asses. Your stunned face is engraved in my mind forever.” Hope finished and Lizzie threw at her one of the cookies of the plate.

“You should’ve seen your face.” Lizzie exclaimed and Hope laughed. “You were as surprised as me. I was so caught up on trying to own your ass that I didn’t even realize Jo was also wanting to win. She spent the next couple of months shoving it on my face.” Lizzie said and Hope shook her head smiling.

“On mine too. When she stayed at my house when your mom took you to that weird museum trip, she couldn’t stop bragging and telling me that we’re too obsessed with each other.” Hope smiled and Lizzie nodded. She had heard Josie saying that a lot to her too.

“Next question?” Lizzie asked and Hope looked at the binder.

“This one is cool.”

  1. **Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.**



“Oh no.” Lizzie grunted and Hope laughed guilty.

“I’m sorry but this one seemed very funny for me not to pick it.” Hope said and Lizzie sighed. She knew exactly which moment she would share.

“Okay. There was this one time that I wanted to confess to my crush that I was in love with them.” Lizzie started, her heart hammering in her chest. Hope’s eyes were fixed in Lizzie’s every breath. “So I went to them. I knocked on the door and I was so stressed about doing this that I didn’t even wait for them to open the door and just started to spill my feelings and embarrass myself-”

“It’s not embarrassing.” Hope interrupted her softly. “At least you had the guts to walk to them and say it.”

“Except that I didn’t.” Lizzie grunted embarrassed. “They weren’t inside the room and who end up listening to my confession was their mom.” Lizzie said covering her eyes with her hands and listening to Hope cackling until she finally couldn’t control herself and started to laugh out loud.

“NO!” Hope shouted and Lizzie nodded grunting.

“Not my finest moment.”

“What did you do after that?” Hope asked.

“She told me that I should probably tell the right person next time.” Lizzie said remembering Hayley’s attempts to conceal her amusement. “I told her to forget what she saw and then I went home and ate ice cream crying.” Lizzie finished and Hope’s face of trying to pretend she wasn’t finding it funny was almost the same as Hayley’s.

“I’m so sorry, Lizzie.” Hope said still amused and Lizzie sighed.

“Now tell me something as bad as that.” Lizzie dared her and Hope smiled.

“It’s going to be difficult to top this masterpiece of yours.” Hope started making Lizzie stick out her tongue to her. “There was this time that I was looking at a picture of someone I liked and mom told me to ask them out. For the life of me, I didn’t get what my mom meant by that and I just frowned and asked her why.” Hope shook her head as if she were calling herself dumb. “My mom looked at me with an expression that told me that she was questioning my intelligence and shook her head stunned when she got to the conclusion that I was really dumb. Then she told me ‘Well, because you’re clearly in love with them.’ And I was so shocked and she was so shocked that I had no idea and my dad just came to me after hearing us and said like ‘oh, love’. I know he was pitting me for being so stupid.” Hope finished and Lizzie laughed. Of course that would be Hope.

“That actually sounds a lot like you.” Lizzie teased and Hope rolled her eyes laughing.

“Let’s move on to less embarrassing topics.” Hope said blushed. “Next question.”

  1. **Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?**



“Yes, there is.” Lizzie said biting her lip.

“Why haven’t you done it?” Hope asked and Lizzie grunted.

“Well, every time I think about kissing them I remember that I confessed my feelings to their mom so I’m still trying to build courage.” Lizzie said hoping that Hope got the message; that she wasn’t being that daft that she wasn’t getting all the signs. Gladly, Hope seemed to be receiving them because she blushed and looked away. “You?”

“I also have something that I’ve been dreaming to do.” Hope started and then looked at Lizzie pointedly. “I just didn’t realized what it was until my mom told me.” Hope finished and they laughed at how stupid they were. Lizzie was sure that both Hope and she knew exactly who they were talking about without having to say names but they kept doing this because it was so entertaining and romantic and Lizzie’s heart was beating faster than Hope’s. Probably; Hope’s was quite fast if the text were an indication.

“Are you intending to do it?” Lizzie asked and Hope smirked.

“Oh yeah. I intend to do this very soon.” She said, a mix of new-found confidence and a somewhat shyness that Lizzie found it a perfect combination.

“How soon?” Lizzie teased and Hope’s smirked widened.

“Soon.” She said winking at Lizzie and looking again at the binder. “Last one.”

  1. **Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.**



“This one is kinda hard.” Lizzie joked and pretended to think. “I’ll say one and then you say another until we finish." Lizzie said and Hope nodded. “We’re both competitive.”

“You went for the most easy one.” Hope laughed. “We are stubborn.” Hope said and Lizzie smiled. Yeah, the fact that they were on this dance of tell-don’t-tell was a sign of that.

“We both never kissed anyone.” Lizzie said just a little provocative for Hope to look away just like she did. She bit her lip and Lizzie’s breath caught at how that simple thing made Lizzie’s whole body hot.

“We both want to kiss each other.” Hope said making Lizzie choke. Her eyes widened. That they wanted to kiss each other was an objective fact universally acknowledged if Lizzie’s family teasing showed something. But for Hope to point that out… Lizzie was probably sporting her most red face ever and she could barely look at Hope. She knew Hope was feeling like a winner right now and Lizzie, for some reason, didn’t feel at all like a loser in this game.

“There’s a whole collection of things we want to do with each other besides kissing.” Lizzie said and it was time for Hope to choke. Well, Lizzie was competitive and she had to best Hope. She managed to do it because Hope was giggling and shaking her head.

“Oh, Lizzie,” Hope laughed and Lizzie smirked.

“What?”

“You always want to win, don’t you?” Hope asked and Lizzie shrugged.

“What can I say? I just love having the last word.” Lizzie said smugly and Hope nodded sighing as if she were admitting defeat. Lizzie snickered at her.

“I don’t think there’s a way for me to top that.” Hope said and Lizzie nodded agreeing. “Unless…” Hope started and that word alone made Lizzie stop. It was like she had been caught in a trap; like Hope was planning this all along. Lizzie didn’t dare move until Hope smirked the most teasing smile Lizzie had ever seen. “Our first kisses were each other.” Hope said and Lizzie was just making sense of her words when Hope’s hands cupped Lizzie’s face and then Lizzie forgot everything.

* * *

Hope’s mind was having a meltdown right now. A meltdown Lizzie-induced. Hope had imagined her first kiss a lot of times but this was totally unexpected. It was weird and funny and awkward and Hope had no idea what to do and Lizzie probably didn’t too because she started to laugh and then Hope started to laugh and they broke the kiss. Hope mustered the courage to look at Lizzie just long enough to see that she was as shy as Hope. Hope glanced around and noticed that some people were smile that adult smile of _‘Ah, teenage love’_.

“I won.” Lizzie said smugly after a few seconds and Hope frowned.

“I could argue that I did since I surprised you so bad that you gasped.” Hope said imitating Lizzie’s little gasp at the beginning of the kiss. Lizzie laughed shaking her head.

“Yeah, but I won at the end.” Lizzie said raising her eyebrows and Hope smiled.

“We both did.” Hope said and Lizzie smiled in a shy and excited way. It was beautiful and for the first time Hope wondered how the hell she hadn’t noticed that Lizzie was in love with her. Looking at Lizzie right now, Hope could see all the unspoken words.

“I guess we did.” Lizzie agreed and Hope gasped in pretend surprise.

“Wow, you agreed with me and you didn’t even look like you were being forced to swallow a dead rat.” Hope teased and Lizzie laughed throwing another cookie at Hope.

“You shouldn’t tease your future girlfriend, Hope.” Lizzie said and Hope felt how nervous and thrilled Lizzie was.

“Future girlfriend, huh?” Hope asked and Lizzie blushed looking away and then right in Hope’s eyes.

“Yes.” Lizzie said sure and Hope smiled; or just widened her smile. She had no idea. It was like she had spent this whole time smiling and her maxilla was numb.

“I do like the idea of a girlfriend.” Hope said. “Can I kiss her?” Hope asked and Lizzie nodded. This second kiss was less surprising and more calm. Calm wasn’t exactly the word. Less chaotic because in the first one Hope barely knew what was happening because her mind was _fireworking_. Lizzie’s lips tasted like chocolate cookies and coffee and Hope whished every single kiss forever would feel as thrilling and new and amazing like this. They broke they kiss and decided to finally leave the coffee shop and walk on campus. They walked with intertwined hand and stopped at trees, benches, buildings and statues to try a new discovering kiss. It was like they wanted to make memories in every single place; and they did.

“So you confessed that you’re in love with me to my mom?” Hope teased later that night while they were laying on the grass and stargazing. Lizzie grunted making Hope laugh.

“You couldn’t forget that, could you?” Lizzie asked, her head on Hope’s belly as Hope lightly brushed her hair with her fingers.

“You know I wouldn’t.” Hope said and Lizzie sighed dramatically.

“I admire her self-control because if it were me watching some stupid love-struck girl confess to a door that she loved her, I would have died laughing but first I would drag the poor girl with me.” Lizzie said and Hope laughed. They both did.

“Now I get why my mom always rolled her eyes when I talked about how I wasn’t sure if you liked me.” Hope said and Lizzie huffed.

“She rolled her eyes because she gave birth to a dumb child, Hope.” Lizzie said laughing and Hope shoved her lightly.

“You’re terrible.” Hope said and Lizzie smirked.

“You love it.” She said and Hope had to agree. She really loved it.

* * *

Their project was a success. The professor found it bold and the other students laughed out loud at Hope and Lizzie telling their whole love story to the class. In the end, their _Essay on Attraction_ talked about science and art and feelings. It was as much as scientific research as it was an emotional discovery and the thrill of first love. It was true and simple and as genius as they expected them to be. The professor loved it; loved them; saying that it was good that they decided to have fun instead of just focusing on being the best and shoving down other’s throats a lot of facts that no one would care. They had gotten the highest grade and a wink from the professor promising an indication letter.

Their families weren’t surprised when they arrived at the airport hand in hand. They were even less surprised that it took them less than a week of working on their attraction project for them to kiss. Hayley finally let herself laugh at Lizzie and Lizzie was too happy to care so she laughed too because it didn’t matter now because everything had worked out and they were together.

* * *

**_A FEW MONTHS LATER_ **

“I got it, Hope. Get your ass down here right now.” Lizzie screamed on the phone as soon as Hope picked up. Hope knew what she meant by _I got it_ so she just jumped out of bed and ran downstairs with her own letter. “I’m so stressed.” Lizzie said. Hope’s letter had gotten at her house two days ago but they had agreed to only open it when Lizzie got hers.

“Don’t be. We got accepted in other two Universities. If Harvard doesn’t take us they’re stupid.” Hope assured Lizzie at the same time her heart beat fast with the uncertainty.

“Let’s open it.” Lizzie said already ripping apart the envelope and Hope did the same. The anxiousness was so much that she barely saw what was written. She only stared at it until Lizzie screamed at her and took the paper out of her hands.

“And? Did we pass?” Hope asked and Lizzie laughed.

“Let me just say that we’ll have a lot of opportunities to make memories in every single corner of that place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? Did you smile like a fool like I did when I wrote? Please tell me in the comments.

**Author's Note:**

> DID YOU LIKE IT? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.


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